The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-04-14
PESTS OF AFRICA.
A COUNTRY WELL SUPPLIED WITH
ALL SORTS OF INSECTS.

ALL SOh = SF llSSEC =.
The Ways of tho White Ant-The Re.
markable "Hottentot God"-Grasshop.
pers, Locusts, Moths md Butterflies.
The Crocodile-venomous snnlsesl
The tcrmites, or white ants, build for
themselves houses or hills of an average
height of three feet above the ground and
three feet diameter at the base, conical in
shape and sometimes adorned with one or
two pinnacles. In rare cases the hills rise
to q height of four OR five feet, the sub
stance of which they are constructed,
earth mixed with q secretion from their
own bodies, being rs hard as cement.
Mixed with water it is used rs q mortar
III laying bricks and as covering for the
floors of Kafir kraals and the houses Of
Dutch inhabitants. 1t makes q strong
water and damp proof floor The ant
houses in the interior are divided into
apartments connected by galleries. The
ants have among themselves regular
| guards and soldiers, who, when breach
is made in their dwelling, rush forth in
its defense and muster the working ants,
who curiously enough are without eyes,
to repair the damage, and in q asurprisingly
short time the swarms Of ants will have
effected MI repairs and everything will be
right and quiet again. An animal dies on
tho Veldt, soon the vulturcs will have
t3..1n off his hide and devour all of 1t eX-
cepting the bones, then the ants in their
turn clean Ind polish those so that within
twenty-four hours after death there will
remain only the bones, smooth and pol
ished inside and out, and what was the
day previous living animal is now q dis
! jointed and whitened skeleton.
A book could be written on the various
species of ants, but let US pass on to somo
| of the other insects which abound in
Africa. Here can say word in favor
of the detested mosquito. In south Africa
he is quite decent He only bites during
the day, and at sunset, unlike his Amer:
ican cousin, goes to sleep and gives you d
rest AS to feas, they are found in
legions, and are as active and bloodthirsty
Us any in the world.
| Sitting in my room one evening reading,
my attention was drawn to remarkable
looking insect, which sat upon his
haunchcs before me. 1t was of q bright
emerald green color, three inches long,
and evidently of the grasshoppcr species.
It had face like Deaths head, with
large, protruding eyes, which 1t rolled
about in q most comical manner. It's
forelegs resembled arms with hands,
which it held up on either side of Its face
like Mortified old woman. Altogether it
| is most ludicrous insect It Is called by
| the inhabitants the "Hottentot God. {"
/ Lro{ c11y>arcfifioy,o o1,o,,t
it, believing that 1t is the forerunner OF
| death. 1t Is harmless unless annoyed,
when it will show fight.
Of grasshoppers and locusts there are
| many sorts, from those that are six inches
long and armor plated like small IRON
clad to little wee things hardly percep-
tibla. All of them, however, are terribly
destructive to vegetation. Moths and
butterflies are innumerable; some of them
are very beautiful as they flash among
the flowers in the bright African sunlight,
| while others are of more somber hue
We must not forget the destructive fish
moth, who finds out all woolen garments,
and to your utter dismay when cold snap
comes on and you think you have nice
warm garment to put on, giving 1t shake
to dislodge the spiders, scorpions and
other disagreeable tenants who like to
take up their abode in all put away cloth
ing, to find it fly off in dust, and instead
of what you expected you have fine
lace worked article, useless even If
ornamental. Spiders there are, from
| those as large as q pigeons egg to the
smallest conceivable size, venomous and
terrible in their bites, lurking in all sorts
of hidden places One Of the most dan
gerous of the species is small, round
bodied fellow, whose favorite haunt is in
outhouses and in closets, and whose bite
is very painful. Scorpions are plentiful
and poisonous Centipedes are found
everywhere. In fact, with those insects
that I have mentioned and others not en-.
numcrated the dweller in Africa needs to
keep his eyes open, but, like men who
| work in powder factories or similarly dam
| gerous places, one becomes accustomed to
all these deadly insects, and a scorpion,
centipede or tarantula is brushed off in
cool, matter of fact way, crushed with the
foot, and nothing more thought about it.
The largest and most dangerous, al
| though!n not the most numerous, reptile in
Africa is the crocodile. Infesting the
banks Of the numerous rivers and lagoons,
he lies in wait for his prey, and seizes on
| cattle, deer and human beings. His favor-
ite lepast, however, Is dog. If one is
bowling or barking in the neighborhood
the crocodile is alert and on the lookout
for him, and if he is caught short work Is
made of him. Resembling the crocodile
| in appearance, although in miniature, is
the iguana, harmless reptile, which,
| however, is death to snakes. This reptile
lives in holes in trees, and is rather pretty
| in color. Next come the lizards, plentiful
| and harmless. Then the chameleon,
changing his color to that of the object on
which he may be resting. 1t is quite the
thing in Africa to keep one or two on a
suspended branch of q tree in your room,
as they devour an immense number of
flies and are useful in that way. When
annoyed the chameleon will utter short
bark and spit at his assailant.
| The most dangerous and most plentiful
pests of this country are the many species
| of snakes. First in size comes the py-
thon, or boa constructor; although not
maintaining the immense size of his South
|. American congencr, he is q fellow to keep
| away from. This snake is found mostly
in the low country adjoining the coast
uut JdF uCuluily VI tue SuStI cotttlco' ~
grows to a length of Is or IS feet, but Is
not considered very dangerous. Then we
have the tribe of nimambas, black, brown
and green. These snakes will not only
show fight to man, but will pursue him,
even if mounted. In attacking they rear
themselves up, and snake G feet in
length will carry its head feet from the
ground, waving it from side to side and
travelling as fast as horse can run.
| Their bite is sure and sudden death. The
cobra is another dangerous snake, lying
concealed and striking when least cX-
pected. It's bite is deadly.
Adders are plentiful, the puff adder
being one Of the most venomous. The
night adder is small, diminutivc snake,
not more than 6 to 10 inches in length,
which crawls around in the night, and is
extremely dangerous. Water snakes are
also found in all rivers, ponds and lagoons.
They are plentiful and are said to be poi
sonous, but I never knew of any one being
bitten by one of them. Snakes are to be-
found everywhere when least expected
Natal Cor San Francisco Chronicle. /.
The refusal of the Dccchers to use Grape
or to wear any 'heathenish'' black may